Sand Worries Is Now A Ph Worry

[frida]

Hello Everyone!

So I have ordered my Juwel Rekord 600 aquarium and I'm getting all the other bits and pieces. But now I'm confused about sand.

I would really like to have a dark substrate (as I believe the colours of the fish come out better that way) and have been considering Unipac's Limpopo sand (http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/unipac-limpopo-black-aquarium-sand-25kg-p-2827.html). However, I've been doing some reading around and am confused with whether this is suitable or not.

I want to keep pygmy corydoras and was wondering if this sand is too coarse? And I've also read that it can possibly alter the hardness and pH of the water? Should I be worried about this? I'd be really grateful if anyone has had experience with this particular substrate could let me know what their thoughts are. Or if anyone has suggestions for another type of black sand that's suitable!

If not, I may just get some play sand from Argos, although it's not the colour I was after.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Mo1959]

Hi. I think the texture will be fine but when I was researching it, someone also told me that it can raise your ph a bit. Depends on what fish you want I suppose. I wanted tetras, corys and rasboras which all prefer lower ph so ended up not getting it just in case.

 

[frida]

Hi. I think the texture will be fine but when I was researching it, someone also told me that it can raise your ph a bit. Depends on what fish you want I suppose. I wanted tetras, corys and rasboras which all prefer lower ph so ended up not getting it just in case.

Thanks for your reply - I'll have to think carefully on the fish I want in that case! I'm guessing it might help to check my tap water parameters once my test kit is here as well to come to a decision...

 

[frida]

So an update:

I got my API master test kit yesterday I have measured the pH of my tap water. It is somewhere between 8.0 and 8.2. I had no idea that the water here is so alkaline!

Anyway, as I had ordered the limpopo sand already, I am doing a mini experiment right now. I have two glasses of water, one with and one without the sand and I'm going to test the pH in a few day's time. What I noticed about the sand/gravel is that it didn't discolour the water at all when I washed it. This is different from what I had read online so possibly the sand won't alter the pH either...

However, this pH business has prompted a new question: is a pH of 8.0~8.2 going to meant that the kind of fish I wanted are not suitable? The fish I was hoping for were:

pygmy corydora (Corydoras pygmaeus)
sparkling gourami or dwarf gourami (Trichopsis pumila or Colisa lalia)
cherry shrimp

Or is the pH itself not going to be too much of an issue as long as it's stable? I'd be really grateful for some advice. I'm really keen on the fish I've mentioned but if they are not going to be happy in my water, I'd be happy for recommendations (my tank is 63 litres with a length of 60cm).

Thanks!

 

[moochy13]

im considering black sand for my new tank so am watching this with interest. i hope it proves usable.

 

[frida]

im considering black sand for my new tank so am watching this with interest. i hope it proves usable.

Sure, I'll keep you posted on my pH experiment. Just to let you know, though, that Unipac's Limpopo is not completely black and has greyish gravel in it too. It's very pretty though, I like it

 

[frida]

So I just checked my water today (24 hours after starting my mini experiment) and both are at pH 8.2 so no difference so far with the Limpopo substrate.

im considering black sand for my new tank so am watching this with interest. i hope it proves usable.

Sure, I'll keep you posted on my pH experiment. Just to let you know, though, that Unipac's Limpopo is not completely black and has greyish gravel in it too. It's very pretty though, I like it

 

[the biffster]

i am doing play pit sand over
aquatic soil for my planted tank
this time around but its only going
to be lightly stocked heavily planted
and normally filtered with an external
filter and i am going to try the diy
co2 system that on here going back to
basics

 

[moochy13]

im thinking of doing a half and half of back sand and gravel. my tank is quite long and with well planned placement of rocks/wood/plants i should be able to get away with it not looking too obvious.

did you get your sand from your local shop ?

 

[the biffster]

im thinking of doing a half and half of back sand and gravel. my tank is quite long and with well planned placement of rocks/wood/plants i should be able to get away with it not looking too obvious.

did you get your sand from your local shop ?

my sand came from Argos and aquatic soil from
a place called aquatic fanatic

 

[fluffycabbage]

my pygmy cories are fine with argos playsand and water which is pH8 out of the tap and 7.5 in the tank (have bogwood in there)

 

[frida]

My sand comes from www.aquaessentials.co.uk.
I just checked the pH today (day 2) and no changes.

 

[the biffster]

its not coral sand by any chance is it

 

[frida]

its not coral sand by any chance is it

I have no idea what it is. It doesn't say it's coral sand but it doesn't say what it is either. The pH in my mini experiment hasn't changed BUT I just tried putting the sand in vinegar and it fizzes... So I'm confused at the moment. My guess is that it's making the water harder (unfortunately I don't have a test kit to check that at the moment) but not altering the pH for some reason. (I think the two (pH and hardness) are related but not always correlated?)

 

[the biffster]

sounds to me like coral sand if its fizzing
when you add vinegar that is what is buffering
you pH up